Big Beat Steve

I grabbed the RCA "Jazz Tribune" 2-LP set of this more on a whim at a clearance sale a couple of years ago and listened to it first in bewilderment, then in amazement. Best not to be taken in one go, but quite impressive. And it ties in nicely with interviews "accorded" by The Lion elsewhere. He was revered as a sort of "patron-saint" of early jazz by fans of more classic forms of jazz in France in his later days, and features on him as well as interviews with him (made during his stays in Europe) were published every now and then in the "Bulletin du Hot Club de Frane" run by Hugues Panassié. Even in their French translations his colorful character comes across very distinctly in his interviews and reminiscences, and they sure are entertaining reading.

What makes you think so?? What about the recordings of "Willie The Lion Smith & His Cubs" for Decca that he made between 1935 and 1937? Very nice small-band swing - more in the swing idiom than certain of his later somewhat more "old-timey" recordings where he gleefully relished his status as the grand old man of Stride piano - a role that suited this colorful character excellently. I have a selection of these "Cubs" small band sessions on an older Ace of Hesrts LP. But I gather you are more into digital reissues, so I would only be able to direct you to the 1925-37, 1937-38 and 1938-40 volumes of his works in the Chronological Classics series, for example.

Some fans of 50s Hillbilly music do. But his "Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" usually makes them cringe. Below is a feature from the April 1953 issue of Country Song Roundup.

To round off this discussion, the below might be of interest. While perusing my Down Beats, I found the below review of that disc (by Nat Hentoff) in the Dec. 29, 1954 issue: S So ... a Cool Yule and a New Year that's Way Out to everyone ...

Re- ex-library vinyls and their fate in the hands of library users, they are indeed likely to have been (ab)used a lot. But there are exceptions, like in Pim's case. At the recent annual clearout sale of ou local #1 secondhand record shop I picked up an ex-library copy of Vol. 1 ("Post-War Dance bands") of the "Polish Jazz 1946-1956" series (on Polskie Nagrania) from the 70s. I seemed to remember this one was still missing in my collection so at 1 EUR apiece you can take chances. As it turned out I do already have it so it went into a "spare items" corner. The vinyl really looks very, very clean and free from scratches and scuffs (maybe the sticker glued (again ...) to one of the labels helped as it says "Clean with antistatic cloth before use. Damaged records will have to be paid for in full"). Yet I cannot really see myself putting this up at fleamarkets to finicky punters who complain and whine about anything even if you price your items nicely. This LP had been part of the stocks of a "Scientific Library" in East Germany (long before the fall of the Iron Curtain) and the front cover is adorned with the "older generation" of library stickers - nothing attached with clear tape that might peel off but everything on paper and glued on for eternity: library catalog register number on thick paper, another paper sheet where a date is stamped on each time the item is borrowed from the library, and then another glued-on sticker that officially states the item was removed from the library stocks in 1990. One day I will continue peeling these stickers, though ...

@Kevin Bresnahan: As the contents of "Jazz Anecdotes" do not all come from the personal observations of Bill Crow (far from it ...) they are not really closely related. So IMO you can do as you prefer. But make sure you get the "Jazz Anecdotes - Second Time Around" edition. According to the preface, this is a revised and expanded edition of the original "Jazz Anecdotes" first published in 1990. @Mike Weil: Sound advice - plowing too hard through the "Jazz Anecdotes" in one go might be too much of a good thing. Better to take it in smaller instalments. Just like the "Good Vibes" autobio of Terry Gibbs - though his recollections of his time and work with Benny Goodman (aptly named "The Fog" or "El Foggo") are a hoot!

All 8 tracks are on Youtube. For the time being, that's good enough for me. Considering that this LP apparently has never been reissued, my guess is we will have to wait for the Andorrans to do a CD reissue. They have reissued Urbie Green stuff before.

Thanks for the reminder. I just tried and got the sound to work 👍. But the problem is just this: The (desktop!) PC I would be able to play this from is not near my living room or music rom but one flight down in my office. Inconvenient ... (no, no "smart"phone here for this ...)

Which is exactly what came to my mind when I wrote my reply ... But that 8-hours YT clip of department strore Xmas muzak had me wondering ... I've half a mind of downloading it for the upcoming season ... (my better half will be away for a couple of days, so ... )

Yes, that Yuletide record is very nice. Particularly at this time. (Though I am not sure I'd want to listen to ALL the 8 songs on Youtube in one go ). I had not been aware of the existence of this record before either. So thanks, TTK!

Thanks - those links make the Hoss Allen connection (via "Black" Nashvile) clear.

Amazing that they used Louis Jordan for that program as late as 1966. He was near the end of his recorded run and, alas, certainly past his public-appeal prime by that time. OTOH, TV host/(ex-)DJ Hoss Allen must also have been a bit past his most active prime by 1966. If my sources are correct his most important years were in the pre-R'n'R days. I am not familiar with that show and its place and status on TV of those days, but considering everything, maybe they catered to a somewhat older audience that still fondly remembered the likes of Louis Jordan? Anyway ... it's nice to see Louis Jordan in THAT context. "Caldonia" is taken at bit too fast a pace IMO but otherwise his set moves well and the modernized touches that his band comes up with fit in fine. Contrary to some of his very final recordings that somehow sound like not quite flesh nor fowl.

That cover photograph is odd ... and ill-suited ... This is a pic by renowned jazz photographer Susanne Schapowalow and shows trumpeter Fred Bunge in war-devastated Hamburg in 1949! Far outside the time frame of the record and showing a musican who did not figure on that release either (he had virtually left jazz by the period of the recordings and died in 1960 in a car crash). Reconstruction in Europe had progressed rather more by the late 50s /early 60s (and Germany, in partuicular - cf. the German "Wirtschaftswunder" period). So there would have been better period pics to illustrate the feel of the era, i.e. through 50s/late 50s modernism. What were you thinking, you artworkists?? Apart from that, Sonorama is an interesting label that goes where few others bother to tread.

Listening to this now: Some knowns, some unknowns, some discoveries, some early Ray Charles off the beaten tracks of the usual contents of reissue compilations. So overall a nice addition. Bought this 2-CD set yesterday at a local secondhand record shop at a price I couldn't resist - and which turned out to be significantly lower than the asking prices and median sales prices of European Discogs sellers.

Just checked my magazines (I have about 2 full years of Jazzfinder/Playback from 1948-50), and the below article must be the one from the Dec. 1948 Jazzfinder that is being referred to: I'll leave it to Oliver experts to interpret the contents. FWIW, the 1942 Down Beats are available on the Worldradiohistory website.